Newmark Gifts Trust Project $150K

Funds will support Phase 2 of rollout

Michelle Devera

Craig Newmark, founder of craigslist and Craig Newmark Philanthropies, has deepened his commitment to the Trust Project with a $150,000 gift to support its work. The contribution will help the Project continue to fulfill its mission of building trust and transparency in news as it enters Phase II of its rollout, increasing news partner participation, building public awareness, and fine-tuning the Trust Indicators. This is the sixth donation that Newmark has made to the Project, hosted by the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University.

“I'm a news consumer and want news I can trust. The Trust Project gets to the gist of what that means by helping to strengthen news transparency and more,” said Newmark, the Project’s first funder. “I want to do all I can to support this instrumental work.”

Newmark has long supported trustworthy journalism efforts, making it one of the top priorities of Craig Newmark Philanthropies, but it was one event in particular that pushed him to accelerate those efforts: the 2016 presidential election. The use of social media to propagate misinformation during the campaign was done on a scale never seen before. He called it “a big wake-up call for everyone.”

That’s where the Project’s Trust Indicators can make a real difference. “The system embeds standardized disclosures about the news outlet, the journalist, and the commitments that are behind a story to help consumers understand which news sources are trustworthy,” Newmark said.

In addition to the Project, Newmark also works to connect others who see quality journalism as the “immune system of democracy,” such as Columbia School of Journalism, Data & Society, First Draft News, and The International Center for Journalists, among many others.

“Craig’s commitment to the Trust Project has been essential from our very first days. His commitment to news integrity as an engine of democracy runs deep and he is a trusted advisor,” said Sally Lehrman, founder of the Project and senior director of Journalism Ethics at the Ethics Center. “We deeply appreciate this latest contribution and his consistent, ongoing support.”